Catholic antipodes

David Gibson October 21, 2007 - 1:23pm

The Blackwater scandal of American (and other) mercenaries in Iraq and elsewhere popped up on my radar as yet another dark chapter in this national nightmare surrounding Iraq. Yet I didn't explore it as much as I would have liked (or should have) until channel-surfing the other night I came across a Bill Moyers' interview[1] with Jeremy Scahill, author of an impressive book of investigative reporting on Blackwater. The interview and parsing of the media counter-attack by Blackwater CEO Erik Prince was illuminating, and chilling. And Scahill's dedication, work and presentation were beyond impressive, to me.

I was not aware, however, that Scahill and Prince are both Catholic, until last night I read an Oct 12 profile of Scahill[2] in NCR. Scahill was raised in a Catholic Worker home, and went to live at Jonah House with the Berrigans in Baltimore for a year in the 1990's.

It had a profound impact on me, he told NCR. I think that being alive in the times that we live in means to be a resister...For me, media is a nonviolent weapon in that struggle.